Biography

Veteran NFL defensive lineman Brentson Buckner enters his second season with the Cardinals and second year as an NFL assistant after joining the team as defensive line coach on 2/5/13.

A second-round pick (50th overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1994 NFL Draft out of Clemson, Buckner played in 174 games with 127 starts in his 12-year NFL career with Pittsburgh (1994-96), Cincinnati (1997), San Francisco (1998-2000) and Carolina (2001-05). He totaled 31 sacks, two interceptions, five forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries in his career.

Veteran NFL defensive lineman Brentson Buckner enters his second season with the Cardinals and second year as an NFL assistant after joining the team as defensive line coach on 2/5/13.

A second-round pick (50th overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1994 NFL Draft out of Clemson, Buckner played in 174 games with 127 starts in his 12-year NFL career with Pittsburgh (1994-96), Cincinnati (1997), San Francisco (1998-2000) and Carolina (2001-05). He totaled 31 sacks, two interceptions, five forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries in his career.

In his first year as an assistant coach, Buckner helped a Cardinals defense that finished as the NFL’s sixth-ranked overall unit and featured the league’s top-ranked run defense (84.4 yards per game). The Cardinals allowed the fewest rushing yards in team history for a 16-game season (1,351) and collected 47 sacks, the third-highest total in franchise history. Defensive end Calais Campbell had a career-high nine sacks and joined defensive tackle Darnell Dockett as Pro Bowl alternates.

As a member of the Steelers, Buckner started all 16 games during the 1995 regular season and three playoff games in helping the Steelers reach Super Bowl XXX, which was played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. After three years with Pittsburgh, he was traded to Kansas City in 1997, but was waived by the Chiefs and claimed by Cincinnati prior to the season.

He signed with the 49ers as a free agent in 1998 and spent three seasons in San Francisco, setting a career high with seven sacks in 2000. He then went to Carolina as a free agent in 2001 and played the final five years of his career with the Panthers.

In 2003, he was a part of one of the league’s top defensive lines alongside defensive ends Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins. The group helped lead the Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII, the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. In that year’s NFC Championship Game, Buckner had 1.5 sacks in a 14-3 victory at Philadelphia.

After retiring from the NFL following the 2005 season, Buckner entered the high school coaching ranks in his hometown of Charlotte, serving as the defensive coordinator at Victory Christian High School and then as head coach at Northside Christian Academy from 2008-09. He served as a training camp coaching intern with the Steelers for three years (2010-12), and was named the head coach of the Charlotte Speed of the Professional Indoor Football League in July 2012, but the team folded before playing a game.

Born in Columbus, GA, Buckner played collegiately at Clemson (1990-93). A three-year starter, he left ranked third in school history with 22 sacks and fourth with 46 tackles for loss. He helped the Tigers to an ACC Championship in 1991 and a nine-win season in 1993, which was capped off by a 14-13 win over Kentucky in the Peach Bowl when he had 13 tackles and was named Defensive MVP. In 2013, Buckner was named to the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame Class.